Sunday, September 11, 2016

A Republican friend dared me
to name five reasons to support Hillary Clinton without mentioning Donald
Trump. Challenge accepted--times twenty! Here are one hundred reasons from Clinton's
background, character, and views that make her worthy of our enthusiastic
support.

Clinton grew up in a
middle-class family (1) with Republican parents, but she was wise enough to
become a Democrat in college (2), supporting anti-war liberal Eugene McCarthy
for president in 1968 (3) and remaining a progressive Democrat her whole life (4).

She earned a degree in
political science from Wellesley (5), writing her thesis on poverty and
community development (6). She was student government president (7) and honored
as student commencement speaker (8).

She then studied law at Yale
(9), serving on the law review board (10). During law school, she went
undercover to investigate racial segregation in Alabama schools (11), part of
her career-long commitment to battling racism (12). After graduating, she studied
at Yale's Child Study Center (13) where she wrote a groundbreaking report on
children's rights published in the Harvard Educational Review (14).

As a young lawyer, she co-founded Arkansas
Advocates for Children and Families (15), directed the Arkansas Legal Aid
Clinic (16), chaired the Legal Services Corporation (17), and chaired the
American Bar Association's Commission on Women in the Profession (18). She was
twice named by the National Law Journal as one of the most influential lawyers
in America (19).

As First Lady of Arkansas (20), she championed
Arkansas's Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youth (21), chaired the
Arkansas Educational Standards Committee (22), worked with the Arkansas
Advocates for Children and Families (23), and served on the board of the
Arkansas Children's Hospital Legal Services (24) and the Children's Defense
Fund (25).

As First Lady of the United States (26), she
chaired the President's Task Force on Health Care Reform (27) and worked across
political divisions to help pass the Children's Health Insurance Program (28),
the Adoption and Safe Families Act (29), and the Foster Care Independence Act (30).
She famously advocated for women's rights in China (31) and wrote a bestselling
book about parenting (32) while parenting her daughter in the White House (33).

During
eight years in the Senate (34), she learned the legislative process first-hand
(35) while working on numerous committees (36) She advocated for 9-11
first-responders (37), rural broadband (38), veterans' health care (39), public
schools (40), and clean energy (41), among many other significant efforts (42).

President Obama chose her
for Secretary of State (43), and she aided him in vastly improving America's
standing in the world (44). She continued to champion the rights of women (45)
and impoverished people (46) around the world. As America's chief diplomat
(47), she combined toughness (48) with a philosophy of using military power
only as a last resort (49). Her many other accomplishments included being part
of the effort to get Osama bin Laden (50) and laying the groundwork for the
Iran nuclear deal (51).

Her work with the Clinton
Foundation helped millions of people worldwide (52). She and her family didn't
get a penny from the foundation (53) and, in fact, donated millions of their
own earnings to help others (54). And no foundation donors got special benefits
from her while she was Secretary of State (55), despite her detractors' false claims.

In
her current campaign, Clinton has held hundreds of town halls (56) focused on
listening to (57) and learning from (58) the public. She doesn't demonize
anyone's ethnic background (59) or belittle her opponents (60), but she isn't
afraid to call out those who purposely appeal to intolerance (61). Fact-checkers
consistently rate her one of the most honest candidates (62). Despite countless
lies told about her (63), she doesn't lie about her opponents (64).

She
frequently says, "America already is great" (65). Basing a campaign
on optimism (66) is far better than exploiting negativity and cynicism (67). Clinton's campaign can be summed up by one comment to
an undecided voter at a town hall: "Whether you end up supporting me or
not, I will support you" (68).

Make Common Sense Common Again

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About the Book

Has the United States gone insane? Considering the political circus of recent years, the easy answer is “yes.” But John Sheirer looks deeper to identify the underlying confusion and show us the core American values that can overcome the insanity, let us laugh at ourselves, and find common sense solutions to our nation’s confusion. We don’t expect political commentary to come in the form of compelling literature, but Sheirer’s gentle wit, knowledge of the issues, compassion for his fellow humans, and highly tuned B.S. detector lift this book from being just another partisan rant to a literate and readable examination of our shared citizenship and humanity.

Praise for John Sheirer's Writing

"... an outlier of logic, reason, and humor in today's often murky and distracting political dialogue. John Sheirer gives entertaining and incisive views on media, policy, elections, and the compendium of issues facing Americans. He gets us refocused and inspired to follow the road to real progressive values." -- David Pakman, host of The David Pakman Show

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"In a political world cluttered with knee-jerk opinions and mindless punditry, John Sheirer is a refreshing alternative voice. He shows liberals how to defeat right-wing lies, not with demagoguery and hysterics, but with common sense wisdom and a neighborly style." -- Bill Scher, host of the Talk Me Down podcast

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"John Sheirer does a great job debunking right-wing propaganda and telling the fascinating story of America's real political majority--your normal-to-the-point-of-being-boring neighbors, friends, co-workers, and fellow churchgoers whose liberal agenda is strongly supported by most Americans." -- Driftglass, political blogger and co-host of The Professional Left Podcast

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“John Sheirer brings an everyman’s approach to any number of issues. Like reading your favorite comic strip first, John’s columns take priority over everything else on the Op-Ed page, always making sharp and compelling points without resorting to the sledgehammer techniques of others.” -- Bob Flaherty, Morning Host, WHMP-96.9 FM, 2014 New England Radio Personality of the Year, Author of novel Puff

About the Author

John Sheirer (pronounced Shy-er) is an award-winning teacher and author. His previous book on politics and current events, Tales of a Real American Liberal, gave rise to a very popular Facebook page by the same name where John posts political commentary that reaches hundreds of thousands of readers every day. At the local level, he writes a monthly column for his hometown newspaper, the Northampton, Massachusetts, Daily Hampshire Gazette (the 2015 New England Newspaper of the Year).
John is the author of many other books, including his delightful series of children’s picture books coauthored with his dog Libby. His previous books also include a creative writing idea book, What’s the Story?; a short story collection, One Bite; two memoirs, Loop Year: 365 Days on the Trail and Growing Up Mostly Normal in the Middle of Nowhere; and a public speaking guidebook, Shut Up and Speak!
John has taught English and communications at Asnuntuck Community College in Enfield, Connecticut, for more than two decades.